Francesco Dell'Anno was born in Baiano (Avellino), on June 4, 1967.
Dell'Anno was a product of the Lazio youth sector. He arrived at 13 and went through all the various age group levels.
He made his Serie A debut on October 28 1984 in a home game against Cremonese. He was an extremely gifted attacking midfielder. In his first season, under Juan Carlos Lorenzo and then Giancarlo Oddi, he showed great promise and was considered a rising star. He played 14 league matches and was one of the few positive notes in a dismal season which saw Lazio relegated to Serie B.
In his second year he played 21 league games and 2 in Coppa Italia. He showed flashes of class but Lazio again had a disappointing season and there were doubts over Dell'Anno's strength of character. He had the skills but like many young talents lacked continuity and rumours were rife of behavioural deficiencies.
The following year with a deduction of 9 points and the arrival of Eugenio Fascetti he joined Arezzo in C1. He stayed in Tuscany four seasons (with one spent on loan at Taranto) playing 60 games with 4 goals.
Between 1990 and 1993 he was at Udinese. The last season he was back in Serie A. He played regularly over his three seasons and performed well playing 98 league games with 10 goals.
In 1993 came a surprise move to Inter. The Milanese were renewing their squad and hoping to play a more entertaining style of football. Inter paid 14 billion lire for Dell'Anno (approx 7 million Euros) and the same year paid only 18 for Dennis Bergkamp...
In his first year at Inter the Nerazzurri had a strange season. They changed manager from Osvaldo Bagnoli to former player Gian Piero Marini and almost got relegated (they were and still are the only team never to have been in serie B) but won the UEFA Cup. Dell'Anno played 15 league games and 3 in Coppa Italia.
In 1994-95, under Ottavio Bianchi, he played less, 9 league games, but scored his first goal, a 1-0 winner at Bari. Inter came 6th and saw the club change ownership from Ernesto Pellegrini to Massimo Moratti (who would lead Inter to great things).
In Dell'Anno's final year Inter changed manager twice (Bianchi to Luis Suarez to Roy Hodgson) but he got 16 league appearances and 3 in Coppa Italia. Inter came 7th.
In the summer Dell'Anno was sold to Salernitana in Serie B. At Inter with the arrivals of midfielders Ciriaco Sforza, Aron Winter (from Lazio) and Youri Djorkaeff plus forward Ivan Zamorano and Nwankwo Kanu there was no longer space for Dell'Anno.
In Salerno he stayed one season. He played 27 league games with 1 goal (1-0 winner against Ravenna). "I Granata" (The Garnets) came a disappointing 15th.
After scoring a goal against them, Ravenna then became his next team. He stayed in Romagna four seasons playing 91 games and scoring 23 goals.
In 2001 he joined Ternana. He stayed one season playing 29 games with 1 goal. Unfortunately, "Le Fere" (The Beasts in Umbrian dialect) were relegated to C1.
Dell'Anno then retired at the age of 35.
Dell'Anno's career was one of highs and lows. He played for Lazio in Serie A and then at Inter with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp and Rubén Sosa winning a UEFA Cup but had also spent many years in the lower divisions. He was an exceptional talent but obviously did not fulfil his enormous talent. For many years he suffered from unspecified back problems but with his natural ability and footballing mind he could have done a lot more with his career.
At Lazio he will always be remembered as a great promise, and the club and fans had great hopes for him, but he never lived up to the expectations.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1984-85 | 14 | 14 | - | - |
1985-86 | 23 | - | 21 | 2 |
Aug-Oct 1986 | 2 | - | - | 2 |
Total | 39 | 14 | 21 | 4 |
Source
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